Sideshow (Solo Recordings 1973-1976) - Allan Clarke

•Allan Clarke, of course, made his name as lead singer with The Hollies, Manchester’s answer to The Beatles, who enjoyed huge success across the 60s and early 70s.

•In 1972, he embarked on a solo career on Epic Records with his debut album My Real Name Is ‘Arold (a reference to his true Christian name – Allan being his middle name). The following years, he moved to EMI and stayed for four years and three albums, which have been out-of-print on CD for some time.

•Headroom, the first of Allan’s EMI albums, sported a Magritte-styled cover and opened with ‘Complete Controllable Man’. Clarke produced the album himself, sang and played guitar, with help from guitarist Ray Glynn and keyboard player Kirk Duncan (both ex-The Mirage and Jawbone), Elton John’s bassist Dee Murray and legendary session drummer Tony Newman. It spawned the single ‘Who?’.

•Newman and Glynn stayed for 1974’s self-titled album, with bass courtesy of the talented Herbie Flowers (who’d played with Lou Reed among many others) and the ubiquitous pianist Peter Robinson (ex-Quatermass). From it, ‘Sideshow’ was issued as a 45.

•After a non-album single – a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’ – in 1975, Allan returned with his third and final EMI album, I’ve Got Time, in 1976. It opened with another Springsteen song, ‘Blinded By The Light’ – indeed, the LP consisted entirely of cover versions. ‘Living In Love’ (originally by The Sutherland Brothers) was chosen as a 7”.

•Disc One of our Sideshow compilation contains the first two LPs. Disc Two presents the third LP plus the bonus singles.

Available 17/03/2014

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1

1.COMPLETE CONTROLLABLE MAN2.PEOPLE OF THAT KIND3.FISHIN'4.WHO?5.DRIFT AWAY6.SHIFT LOVIN' LADY7.I LOOK IN YOUR EYES8.GIVE US A SONG9.WOULD YOU BELIEVE (REVISITED)10.DON'T LET ME DOWN AGAIN11.CAN'T GET ON12.I'LL BE HOME13.I WANNA SAIL INTO YOUR LIFE14.SIDESHOW15.IF I WERE THE PRIEST16.NEW AMERICANS17.LOVE, LOVE, LOVE18.SEND ME SOME LOVIN'

DISC 2

1.BLINDED BY THE LIGHT2.LIGHT A LIGHT 3.WE'VE GOT TIME4.STAND BY ME5.THE LONG WAY 6.HALLELUJAH FREEDOM 7.IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW HOW TO LOVE ME 8.IF YOU WALKED AWAY9.SUNRISE10.LIVING IN LOVE 11.FINALE12.BORN TO RUN 13.WHY DON’T YOU CALL

To many people, the mere mention of West Coast country rockers The Flying Burrito Brothers evokes memories of the talismanic Gram Parsons, continuing to live out hisAmerican cosmic music dream. True, Parson’s brief tenure with the band fell in between his even shorter time with The Byrds and his sadly equally short-lived solo career. But as these two Flying Burrito Brothers albums, along with a career that lasted even into the new Millennium, there’s a lot more to the Flying Burritos than Gram Parsons.When Gram Parsons died in September 1973, the legend surrounding his death led to increased interest in his musical legacy. A&M, keen to cashin, released the compilation album Close Up The Honky Tonks in 1974. This in turn prompted band members Ethridge and Kleinow to revive The Flying Burrito Brothers, this time with ex-Byrds guitarist Gene Parsons and country musicians Floyd Gib Guilbeau and Joel Scott Hill. The new-look band signed to Columbia Records, and released Flying Again , the first of these two albums in 1975. It ‘s a perfect example of the way country rock music had developed since The Byrds broke new ground with Sweetheart Of The Rodeo through to the manner in which the likes of the Eagles and Jackson Browne were now beginning to command American airwaves.

20 mouth-watering servings of classic British [with a fair helping of American] rock from the mid/late-seventies. The band was formed by the remaining members of Back Street Crawler after the demise of their ex-Free, legendary main man and all-round guitar hero, Paul Kossoff. Our Broadside release brings together their two fantastic Epic/CBS albums from 1977 and 1978 – in their entirety. This is the UK/European debut of these albums on CD, and the first time that they have appeared anywhere together as a complete – and specially priced – package. Also includes a bonus track: the single version of ‘Stone Cold Sober'.

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Highly collectable £100-rated Brumbeat album which has been unavailable on CD for many years. Adds six bonus tracks, some of which have never been on CD before, offering their complete Decca output from 1964-65. Opens with the Top 10 hit, ‘Tell Me When’. Also includes their other hits ‘Three Little Words (I Love You)’ and a song given to them by friends Lennon & McCartney, ‘Like Dreamers Do’. Kinks fans will enjoy their version of Ray Davies’ komposition, ‘I Go To Sleep’, while their recording of The Beatles’ ‘Baby’s In Black’ only appeared on a various artists compilation.

Somewhere between his much-respected mid '60s stint penning quirky yet classic hits for The Hollies, Herman's Hermits, The Yardbirds, Cher, Gene Pitney, Wayne Fontana and his huge success as a member of 10CC in the '70s, Manchunian pop genius Graham Gouldman could be found getting stuck into any number of interesting recording projects and bizarre pseudonym releases! .
Almost as an afterthought, Gouldman found himself as a bona fide solo artist, releasing the atypical R&B stomper 'Stop Stop Stop' (no relation to the Hollies tune) on Decca in 1966 before switching to RCA for his first solo album "The Graham Gouldman Thing" in 1968. The album features several of his hits ("For Your Love", "Bus Stop", "Pamela Pamela", "No Milk Today") alongside some less familiar gems ("The Impossible Years", "Pawnbroker", "Behind The Door", "My Father") re-worked in a beautiful baroque 'n' roll style setting string quartets against funky backbeats and electric guitar flash. It's in much the same ball-park as our recent Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard reissue with the added bonus of being conceived as an album and not demos. Amazingly, the album wasn't even a granted a UK release but it leaked out in America where it sold squat and then promptly disappeared, only becoming a cult collectors item over the ensuing 30-odd years. Now available; re-mastered in the usual dazzling Rev-Ola!